This application is based on applications Nos. 2001-080092 and 2001-081620 filed in Japan, the content of which is incorporated hereinto by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming device provided with the functions of a copier, a printer, or a facsimile, or an image forming device comprising a combination of these devices. In particular, this invention relates to an improvement of the operation section of such an image forming device.
The present invention also relates to job data management in image forming devices provided with the functions of a copier, a printer, and/or a facsimile, and to job data management in image reading devices that save image data by converting them into digital signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
(A) As an image forming device having an improved operation section, the image forming device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H4-339454 has been known. This image forming device includes in its operation section a plurality of functions classified into four items as xe2x80x9cBasicsxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cApplicationsxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cSpecialsxe2x80x9d, and xe2x80x9cMarker editing.xe2x80x9d The functions are further classified in each of the four items into hierarchically organized strata and each stratum thereof is provided with a screen for performing a setting for the function. Additionally to the above function keys, the basic screen of this image forming device has xe2x80x9cOptional keysxe2x80x9d which allow the user to assign desired functions thereto.
The above known image forming device is arranged as follows. To take the case of an operator wishing to assign the function xe2x80x9cRelay broadcastxe2x80x9d to an xe2x80x9cOptional keyxe2x80x9d as an example, the operator operates xe2x80x9cSpecialsxe2x80x9d key, xe2x80x9cMode designationxe2x80x9d key, xe2x80x9cRegisterxe2x80x9d key, and xe2x80x9cInitial panel settingxe2x80x9d key by pressing them in this order so as to make the display screen display a page including a key indicating xe2x80x9cFAX optional key.xe2x80x9d
Subsequently, the operator operates the xe2x80x9cFAX optional keyxe2x80x9d in this image forming device so as to make the display screen display a list of functions that can be registered, and then the operator presses the xe2x80x9cRelay broadcastxe2x80x9d key, thereby assigning the function of relay broadcast to the above optional key. This arrangement thus allows the operator to operate the key indicating xe2x80x9cRelay broadcastxe2x80x9d displayed in the optional key display area of the basic screen so that the number of times of the series of operations which is usually required can be reduced in this image forming device.
However, in the above conventional example, although the function of xe2x80x9cRelay broadcastxe2x80x9d can be assigned to the optional key, when specific details of the xe2x80x9cRelay broadcastxe2x80x9d function such as the relay station ID and broadcast addresses need to be designated, the operator needs to make the display screen display a prescribed screen by operating the xe2x80x9cRelay broadcastxe2x80x9d optional key and carry out entering operation on the screen each time such a need arises. Accordingly, even if the specific details of the xe2x80x9cRelay broadcastxe2x80x9d function are almost set ones, the operator has to carry out the detail designating operation as above every time. Such designating operations sometimes bother the operator. For this reason, presentation of a technique which may further enhance the operability of the operation section has been waited for.
With the background described above, the present invention has been devised in order to meet the demand described above, and it is an object of this invention to provide an image forming device with improved operability.
(B) Image forming devices which are provided with the functions of a copier, a printer, and/or a facsimile (they are often called xe2x80x9cmultifunction peripheralsxe2x80x9d), and image reading devices which save image data in the form of digital signals are used in offices and other places being connected via networks to a number of personal computers.
Image forming devices and image reading devices store great amount of job data in the built-in storing devices such as hard discs and then sequentially read out the job data that have been stored in the hard discs so as to carry out the job processings. The xe2x80x9cjobxe2x80x9d mentioned here refers to a series of operations made by an image forming device such as a copier, a printer or a facsimile.
Since great quantity of data are inputted into and outputted from such image forming devices and image reading devices, they need to allow the user to efficiently manage the job processings thereof and easily recognize the states of the job processings.
Accordingly, it is another object of this invention to provide a job management device that allows the users of image forming devices and image reading devices to efficiently manage the job processings thereof and easily recognize the states of the job processings.
(A) An image forming device according to the present invention is arranged such that desired functions or desired functions and their detailed settings can be assigned to shortcut keys, and identification information such as titles and icons that correspond to the functions assigned to the shortcut keys can be designated for the shortcut keys and displayed.
According to the present invention, when an operator wishes to execute a function assigned to a shortcut key, the operator can select the desired function according to the indication of the shortcut key without referring to the operations manual or the like. The operator also can be spared the operations for setting details of the selected function and can start the image forming operation based on the selected function or the selected function and its detailed settings by only pressing the shortcut key. As a result, the image forming device according to the present invention reduces the number of times of key operations performed by the operator, thereby improving the operability.
The identification information (titles and icons) mentioned above may be selected from a prepared group of regular titles or arbitrarily inputted from a character entry screen, or selected from a preliminarily provided icon group. Additionally, it is possible to select a regular title and a regular icon at the same time, or an arbitral title and a regular icon at the same time for each of the shortcut keys.
(B) A job management device according to the present invention is used for image forming devices. The job management device used for image forming devices according to this invention comprises: job number assigning means for assigning job numbers to job data obtained by utilizing the functions of a copier, a printer, and/or a facsimile; storing means for storing the job data having the job numbers assigned by the job number assigning means by associating the job data with the respective job numbers; job execution means for executing jobs in the order of the job numbers in response to signals from a job execution key, while associating the processing conditions of the jobs with the job data in the storing means; and display means for displaying a list of the job numbers aligned in the order of the job numbers in response to signals from a job management key.
In this arrangement, job numbers are given to job data obtained by utilizing the functions of a copier, a printer, and/or a facsimile, and a job number list aligned in the order of the job numbers is displayed on the job management screen. Therefore, the user can precisely recognize the processing conditions of specific jobs even when great amount of job data have been inputted in the multifunction digital device.
Also, a job management device according to this invention may further comprise job processing modifying means for modifying the order of job processing and executing the jobs in the modified job processing order.
As mentioned above, if the job management device further includes job processing modifying means for modifying the order of job processing so as to execute the jobs in the modified job processing order, it is possible to efficiently manage the job processings.
Also, a job management device according to this invention is used for image reading devices arranged for reading images by converting them into digital signals and storing the image data that have been read as job data. The job management device used for image reading devices comprises: job number assigning means for assigning job numbers to the job data; storing means for storing the job data having the job numbers assigned by the job number assigning means by associating the job data with the respective job numbers; job execution means for executing jobs in the order of the job numbers in response to signals from a job execution key while associating the processing conditions of the jobs with the job data in the storing means; and display means for displaying a list of the job numbers aligned in the order of the job numbers in response to signals from a job management key.
Structural details of this invention are hereinafter described referring to the accompanying drawings.